1500 pt starting Death Guard army-C&C welcome

[Wolfbiter]

Hello! I was taking a short break from another painting project, and while looking through my spare BoC and 40k vehicle kits, I realized I had enough to start a small 30k army with only a couple of FW purchases.

The Death Guard have always appealed to me because of their back story, fighting style and Terminator-heavy organization. The following list is my first attempt at a small core force for possible expansion later. I had 4 goals in mind: 1) Fun to play, but does not need to be super-competitive or OP. 2) Reasonably priced based on exisiting models I own+ one or two FW purchases. 3) Reasonably simple to build/convert and 4) Grave Wardens. I really like them and want to include them.

I came up with two possible lists. Comments, criticism and feedback on list strengths and weaknesses is welcome.

Death Guard (Loyalist 1490 point list)

HQ

Section Leader Crysos Morturg (175)

TROOPS

Legion Tactical Squad x 9; Sgt. with Artificer Armor, Power Fist, Rhino with Extra Armor (230 pts)

Legion Tactical Squad x 9; Sgt. with Artificer Armor, Power Fist, Rhino with Extra Armor (230 pts)

ELITES:

Contemptor Dreadnought, Kheres Autocannon, Extra Armor, Graviton Gun (215 pts)

Cataphractii Terminators x 5, Chainfist x 1, Power Fists x 3, Heavy Flamer+Chem Munitions (210 pts)

HEAVY SUPPORT:

Grave Warden Terminators x 5, Chem-Master with Combi-Weapon, Chainfist x 1, Heavy Flamer+Chem Munitions (215 pts)

Legion Heavy Support Squad x 5, Missile Launchers, Flak Missiles, Augury Scanner (215 pts)


The idea for this list is that Morturg allows the two Terminator squads to Infiltrate up the board so they can close with the enemy quickly and use their short-range weaponry without being whittled down the first two turns footslogging into range. Not quite sure where Morturg is best used-perhaps he can be attached to either Termie squad or the heavy support squad to try and give them the benefits of his psychic Endurance power. Tacticals use the Rhinos as protection to move and claim objectives as needed.

Option One is not quite as optimized for combat ability, but would only require me to buy the Grave Wardens, Heavy Support squad, and missile launchers/insignia/decals from FW. Also, I love the look of FW's Proteus missile launcher set-I know they are not as effective against AV 14 vehicles but, you know, Rule of Cool. Plus, they look fairly simple to assemble.

OPTION TWO:

As above, but switch the Contemptor for a Contemptor Mortis with dual Kheres and extra armor (190 pts) and the Heavy Support squad gets five Lascannons and an augury scanner (240 pts) for the same total army points.

I REALLY like the fact Option Two gives me flexible anti-air, anti-infantry and high-strength anti-tank options. My reservations are that I would need to get a second Contemptor from ebay to add a second Kheres, and the Ryza lascannon set from FW looks a lot fiddlier to deal with because of the power cables that need to be heated and bent to fit on the models.

So, are these reasonably playable army lists? Any suggested changes or loadout suggestions, bearing in mind that I don't want to go too crazy with spending? (so no Spartans or Storm Eagles for now, sorry.) Thanks!

[olsol]

Mortug is a great multi purpose HQ choice, psychic powers are rare in 30k (unless your word bearers)

 

My suggestion would be to attach him to the grave warden squad, such an expensive squad should be protected with endurance.

 

Drop the heavy flamed on the warden squad and the chainfist (you can't catch vehicles in cataphractii) plus the flamed is useless when you already have an AP 4 poisoned 3+ template anyway.

 

B@C comes with 30 tactical marines so drop one of the rhinos and make a squad of 20 for 20 extra points. Plus they can infiltrate because the warlord trait is upto 3 units. In regards to the option of heavy support squads, take the missiles (3 come from the B@C box anyway) they are all rounded.

 

With the terminators take combi-weapons, they are great (3plasma 2melta)

 

Keep the contemptor, but give it a drop pod. Just so your opponent has to deal with that first giving your terminators some breathing space to move up the field.

 

Good job though

[LtDan]

Seems like a nice balanced list. Id go with option 2 for the extra firepower. There isn't alot of air support at 1500pts level. The h flamer on the wardens is redundant unless in ZM with the deathcloud. Tho can be good if can get them to your enemy.

[Wolfbiter]

Thanks for the suggestions! I did a bit more reading about the Grave Wardens' Death Cloud, and I have to agree with both of you...the heavy flamer doesn't seem to do much that the Death Cloud already does just as well. (Especially since I read that Grave Wardens were updated so they can use the Death Cloud to Overwatch against charging opponents? AWESOME!) So I decided to drop the Heavy Flamer. I think I'll also just give the Chem-Master his grenade launcher instead of the combi-bolter-I think I prefer 2 Strength 6 shots or a toxin blast for the whole unit.

@Skarbrand: I like your suggestion of giving the Cataphractii some combi-weapons for more oomph. For some reason, though, I never seem to hit with combi-meltas or meltaguns. Ever. They either miss or I roll 1s for armor penetration. Must be some kind of Machine spirit curse. I was considering adding 2 combi-plasma guns and swapping the flamer on the Cataphractii for a Reaper autocannon to give them more Str 7 firepower. What do you think?

I'm a bit leery of dropping the chainfists, just in case either Terminator squad finds itself in proximity to a big nasty high-armor unit. Since both units can Infiltrate thanks to Morturg's Warlord trait, I thought there might be a higher chance of them having to assault high-armor vehicles.

@Lt Dan-I'm still struggling with the lascannons vs missiles on the Heavy Support team. I agree with you that I'd like more ability to deal with high armor targets. However, it turned out converting my Dread to twin Kheres may be a no-go...I was looking at the kit and because the Kheres is split into several parts on the sprue, it looks like I'd have to glue the cannon together then try to cut it off the arm, and I'm afraid of damaging it. If I stay with a regular Contemptor and lascannon Heavy Support, I don't have enough points to upgrade the Cataphractii weapons. I could downgrade the Dread to a Cortus, but I'm not sure whether the extra movement/initiative is a good tradeoff for armor and defense-Death Guard are all about defense!

Another possibility I'm considering is keeping the missile launchers for now and adding a twin-lascannon mortis or some Rapier laser destroyers if I expand to 1750 points. I'll think about it some more.

[LtDan]

Its called a razor saw and magnets

[olsol]

It's a good idea with the reaper autocannon, it adds range for the units. Don't factor out the fact that your warlord trait allows 3 units to infiltrate, with a massive blob of infantry you can really add to your advancing force, even supporting the terminators...

 

I made this 1500 point list:

 

HQ

- Mortug - 175

 

Troops

- Legion Tactical Squad X19, power fist, artificer armour - 275

- Legion Tactical Squar X9, power fist, artificer armour, DE - rhino - 210

 

Elites

- Contemptor, Kheres Assault cannon, Grav-gun - 205

- Legion Terminator Squad X4, Cataphractii plate, power fist X4, chainfist X1, reaper autocannon - 220

 

Heavy Support

- Grave Warden X4, Chainfist X1 - 205

- Heavy support squad X5, missile launchers, flak missiles

 

Total - 1500

 

This is what your list should probably look like.

 

Thoughts??

[olsol]

Dropping the extra armour on the rhino is needed, because it is pointless.

 

You don't need the augury scanner on the heavy support squad because your units will be infiltrating, therefore disallowing any infiltrators to get close to you.

 

You didn't calculate the points correctly for the tactical squad, unless I missed something

 

I've also dropped the heavy flamer cause you don't need it, and I've doubled the size of the tactical squad that would infiltrate.

[Wolfbiter]

@Skarbrand888 Sorry, I realize what was wrong-I had included Vexillas for my tac squads and forgot to list them. I definitely want to make sure the troops don't break and run-that wouldn't be XIV Legion style at all!

I thought a bit about your suggestion to make one tactical squad a large footslogging unit, and I'm definitely seeing some possibiities. They get more firepower and survivability (especially if I attach Morturg to them and can get Endurance to work) and with Infiltrate they don't lose on the speed front.

That said, I would like to keep the extra armor for that additional bit of survivability (it seems to me that's very appropriate for Death Guard) and to keep the Rhino mobile so it can get its squad where it needs to go.

Regarding the augury scanner for the Heavy Support team, I want to include it to give them Interceptor so they can deal with deep strikers or drop pods that try to hit them unexpectedly.

Based on your and Lt. Dan's input, I decided to try your suggested list with a few modifications:

New Death Guard Loyalist list (1500 points)

HQ

Section Leader Crysos Morturg 175

TROOPS

Legion Tactical Squad x 14, Legion Vexilla, Sergeant with Artificer Armor, Power Fist 235

Legion Tactical Squad x 9, Legion Vexilla, Sergeant with Artificer Armor, Power Fist, Rhino with extra armor 230

ELITES

Contemptor Dreadnought, Kheres Autocannon, CCW with Graviton Gun, extra armor 215

Cataphractii Terminator Squad x 4, Reaper autocannon, Chainfist, Power Fists x 3, Terminator Sgt. with Thunderhammer 225

HEAVY SUPPORT

Grave Warden Terminators x 4, Grenade Launchers, Chainfist, Power Fists x3, Chem-Master with Grenade Launcher and Power Fist 205

Legion Heavy Support Squad x 4, Sergeant with Augury Scanner, Missile Launchers with Krak, Frag and Flak Missiles x 5 215

How's that? I kept the Tac Squad at 15 so I can keep the vehicle armor and augury scanner, but still have a reasonably large, infiltrating scoring unit per your suggestion. If Morturg joins them they can also benefit from FNP 4+ if he's lucky with his psychic rolls! Since I had 10 points left over, I thought I'd give the Cataphractii Terminator Sergeant a Thunder Hammer just for kicks, and it's something no enemy mini wants coming at him.

Any other suggestions? I think this is pretty close to what I'm looking for-a reasonably tough and flexible force with a strong Death Guard theme for casual play.

Thanks both of you for your feedback.

[Wolfbiter]

@LtDan: P.S. While I loved the idea of putting the Contemptor in a Drop Pod and landing him first turn in the middle of the enemy and causing havoc...the price of the FW pods was too high for it to be practical for inclusion in my list. But I still appreciate the suggestion.

[olsol]

That looks like a good list

[LtDan]

That was skar not me. I'm not going to be deep striking anything using the reaping